Glossary

Term · Pregnancy: Mind and Life

perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder

Also: perinatal OCD, prenatal OCD, postpartum OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder that starts in pregnancy or after birth. Unwanted, scary thoughts come back again and again, and rituals follow. Treatable.

In plain words

Perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder is a condition where unwanted, distressing thoughts keep returning, and you feel driven to do something to ease them. A common example is a fear that you will accidentally hurt the baby, followed by checking or avoiding. These thoughts are far more common than the disorder itself, and most people who have them do not act on them. The difference lies in how much time, distress, and control the thoughts take. The condition is treatable, often with a type of therapy called exposure and response prevention. Tell your provider if the thoughts take up hours a day or make you avoid your baby. Shame keeps many mothers quiet, and clinicians hear these thoughts often.

The deeper version

Russell et al. (2013), in a meta-analysis, estimated the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in pregnant and postpartum women at about 2 to 3 percent, with a higher rate in the postpartum period in some samples. Intrusive, of accidental or intentional harm to the infant occur in a large majority of new parents and are not diagnostic by themselves; diagnosis requires time-consuming obsessions or compulsions causing marked distress or impairment, consistent with DSM-5 criteria. with exposure and response prevention is the best-supported psychotherapy, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are a recognized option, selected with the clinician. Differentiating from psychosis is essential, since obsessions are recognized as unwanted by the person.

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Sources

  • Russell EJ, Fawcett JM, Mazmanian D — Risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder in pregnant and postpartum women: a meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2013
  • American Psychiatric Association — Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), 2013

The Mothership Topic Wiki is general information for mothers and the people who care for them. It is not medical, legal, or mental-health advice and does not create a provider relationship. Experiences posted by members are their own. In an emergency call 911. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988.